


Replacement

by Blink_Blue



Series: Tumblr Prompts (MacDennis) [1]
Category: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: Angst, Confrontations, Episode: s09e05 Mac Day, M/M, Mental Health Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-20
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-12-04 19:32:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11561850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blink_Blue/pseuds/Blink_Blue
Summary: In the aftermath of Mac day,  Mac confronts Dennis about plans to replace him with Country Mac.





	Replacement

Mac isn’t going to let it go. Not since Charlie had ‘accidentally’ let slip that the gang had been plotting to replace him with Country Mac. Goddamnit, they jumped at the first opportunity they had to get rid of him, and Mac isn’t going to pretend that doesn’t hurt. He’s never been one to hide his feelings and now he’s going to force every single one of them down Dennis’ throat until he gets some damn answers.

“Is it true? Dennis, is it true?” Mac asks desperately as Dennis smacks his hand away. He doesn’t let it deter him though. “Answer me!”

“Goddamnit Mac!” Dennis yells angrily. “Stop fucking poking me!”

“I’m not going to stop poking you until you give me some attention! Now stop avoiding me!”

Dennis rolls his eyes and huffs heatedly. Without a word, he steps to the side to go around him. Mac, of course follows him, hot on his heels, out of the kitchen.

Mac’s jaw drops when he’s not even given the dignity of a response. “Don’t ignore me! Were you going to replace me with Country Mac?” He demands, tugging on Dennis’ wrist as the other man attempts to walk away. “How could you do that, Dennis?”

“It’s not like it actually happened!” Dennis says defensively, as if that excuses anything at all. If not for Country Mac’s untimely demise… who knows?

Mac gapes in shock. “W-why?” He manages to say. “Why would you do that?”

“Because you are goddamn annoying!” Dennis shouts at him. He’s at the end of his rope. And if Mac wants to know why so badly, Dennis is going to scream it in his face. “ _You_ are so goddamn annoying! You suck the fun out of everything!”

“Well, now that’s just not true!” Mac drawls. He chuckles, not quite understanding the livid glare on Dennis’ face. He’s certainly not going to admit that it scares him a bit. “I don’t-”

“It is true!” Dennis screams. “You make us do things that none of us want to do! All you talk about is God and spew bullshit about how much of a badass you are! And don’t even get me started on the sins of homosexuality! It’s all bullshit! You are  _completely_ delusional about every goddamn aspect of your life, and  _we_ have to put up with it!”

Mac frowns in confusion at the other man’s hysterical rant. None of it makes any sense to him. “What are you talking about, Dennis?”

Dennis’ teeth are bared in rage and he growls in frustration before he dropping his face into his hands. Mac blinks, not sure what to do about these uncontrolled fits of rage that seem to happen more and more frequently. Worst of all, more often than not, they’re usually directed at him.

“I can’t handle a goddamn lifetime of this,” Dennis seethes. “You are in complete denial about everything in your life! And I hate it! I hate it! I hate you!”

Mac forces out a laugh at that. “That’s ridiculous, Dennis. You don’t hate me!”

“I do! I fucking do!” Dennis rages, red-faced as anger drips from every word.

For an agonizing moment, all they do is stare at each other. Mac in confusion, and Dennis unspeakably angry as he wheezes for air.

“You don’t mean that,” Mac finally manages to say.

“I do,” Dennis growls through his teeth.

That hurts. But Mac pushes it down, ignores it, and strides ahead naively like he does with every obstacle in his life. “You love me,” he says simply, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “You do. Of course you do.”

Dennis scoffs, his infuriating rage slowly morphing into a snide sneer. “You are completely delusional,” he murmurs under his breath. “You can believe what you want, but it doesn’t make it true.”

“What the hell is wrong with you, Dennis?” Mac shakes his head in confusion. “Where is this even coming from? I know you love me-say it! Say you love me!”

Dennis’ expression is guarded and darkened by shadow. At least the fit of rage seems to have passed. “Why would I say that?” He hisses, eerie like the calm after a storm.

“Just say it, Dennis. You don’t have to mean it, you just have to say it!”

“You’re pathetic,” Dennis whispers.

“Just say the words!”

“I’m not going to mean them!” Dennis growls.

“You don’t have to mean them! Just say ’em!”

Dennis glares defiantly, his lips pursed together so tightly it looks like must hurt.

“Even if you don’t mean it, why won’t you just say it?” Mac finally asks.

“If I don’t mean it, why do you want to  _hear_ it??” Dennis throws back.

“You know why!” Mac screams. “Goddamnit Dennis, you know why!”

Dennis gives him a derisive smirk before turning on his heel. Mac stares in shock as Dennis silently walks towards his room. He enters and slams the door shut behind him.

“You love me!” Mac shouts after him, screaming at a closed door. “You love me, goddamnit! One day you’ll admit it! One day…”

Mac sags, now alone in their living room. He doesn’t understand Dennis’ rage. He doesn’t understand when their relationship changed. They used to be closer than brothers. Now, the other man seems to be constantly straddling a line where he’s giddy, buoyant, and desperate for affection, and wound up so tight, he snaps at the smallest slight, lashing out at the closest people around him, which on most days, is Mac.

It’s like one moment, Dennis is reaching out and he can’t keep his hands to himself, the next he’s so closed off he won’t speak to him for days.

Maybe Dennis is just as confused as he is.

“Dennis loves me,” Mac murmurs out loud, his voice echoing through the empty room. “He does. Of course he does. Dennis loves me with the fury of a thousand suns.”

Mac continues to nod to himself. The alternative is too painful to accept. And he’s found that it’s always easier to continue existing in denial than to accept the truth.

One day, he might lose his precarious grip on the illusions he’s painted over the world he lives in. But that day is not today.

Today, Dennis left him trembling alone, wary and unsure.

But he’s still here. And he tells himself it’s all fine. Dennis will get over it and then they’ll pretend this never even happened. For now, that’s good enough for him.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi! ([x](http://winters-blue-children.tumblr.com))


End file.
